Ekiti 2014: OC Mopol fires at Governor Fayemi’s convoy, kills APC member

Members of All Progressives Congress (APC) were on
Sunday attacked by suspected PDP thugs and mobile
policemen led by their commander, Selenkere Michael.
The attack resulted in the death of an APC member
from ward 12 in Ado-Ekiti while several others were
seriously injured.
The APC members, who were led by the interim
chairman of the party had gathered at the Oluyemi
Kayode Stadium in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, for a
sensitisation rally round the major streets of the town.
The hitherto peaceful procession turned bloody when
mobile policemen led by their commander in the state,
Selenkere Michael, an indigene of Bayelsa State,
pounced on the APC members, tear-gassing and
shooting at them.
One APC member, who was shot in the head by the OC
Mopol lost his life in the process while many sustained
varying degrees of injuries.
Three campaign buses of the APC were also badly
damaged.
The interim chairman of the APC, Chief Jide Awe, and
two members of the National Assembly from the state,
Senator Babafemi Ojudu and Hon. Oyetunde Ojo who
were part of the rally tried to dialogue with the OC
Mopol, but he told them off, warning that he was acting
on orders and would not hesitate to shoot at them.
The Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, arrived
the scene where the rally had earlier been disrupted 45
minutes later to intervene, but was also tear-gassed
and his convoy shot at by the mobile policemen.
The OC Mopol, Selenkere Michael, was involved in an
altercation with the governor, saying he has orders
from above and threatened that he could even arrest
the governor.
For more than an hour, the mobile policemen shot in
the direction of the governor’s convoy, while the OC
Mopol kept uttering obscenities, one of which was that
President Jonathan is his brother and that he was
protecting his interest.
The Police Commissioner, Mr. Felix Iyanna, surfaced
over an hour later after he was reportedly intimated of
the action of his OC Mopol by the governor.
Apologising profusely, Mr. Iyanna denied knowledge of
the action of the OC Mopol.
“I am here to protect you,” said the Police
Commissioner to the governor.
“You are here to protect me and your men were
shooting at me. I am the Chief Security Officer of this
state and your men were firing at me. You have killed
someone now! You have killed someone! Whose
interest are you protecting? Whose interest are you
protecting?” asked the governor who could not hide his
disdain and anger at the top of his voice.
Lending his voice, the senator representing Ekiti
Central, Babafemi Ojudu, said the presidency was
desperate to impose Fayose on Ekiti people.
“They want to impose Fayose on us. We will not allow
this! We will fight back!” Ojudu warned.
The interim chairman of the APC, Chief Jide Awe and
the Director-General of the Kayode Fayemi Campaign
Organisation, Hon. Bimbo Daramola, later jointly
addressed a press conference where both the
Commissioner of Police, Felix Iyanna and the OC
Mopol, Selenkere Michael, were given 24 hours to
leave the state, otherwise the people may be tempted to
rise against them.
Awe said he, Ojudu and Oyetunde Ojo tried to no end to
dialogue with the OC Mopol whose eyes were
bloodshot and was clearly out of control.
“He warned us that he was not ready to listen to us and
that it was the order of Mr. President that we should
disperse. We wanted to dialogue with him but he
replied us with bullets. One of his bullets hit one of us
and the person died immediately. Three of our vehicles
were badly damaged.
“The governor came about 45 minutes later and got his
own treatment. One of his security aides were forcefully
arrested by the OC Mopol who struggled to snatch his
gun from him. All efforts to reason with the OC Mopol
failed. He went ahead to tear-gass the governor who
stood his ground.
“Even if the Mopol Commander has the order of the
president, this is Ekiti. The governor called the
Commissioner of Police who reluctantly came an hour
later. We have been hearing this…The information at
our disposal is that the June 21 election in Ekiti is not
just going to be against the PDP, but against the Police
and the Nigerian Army.
“What we witnessed this morning has confirmed this.
That is why we are calling on Nigerians to prevail on
the president. He was here yesterday (Saturday). While
leaving, he stationed some of his men here.
Awe said if the president wanted to go to war, he
should go to Chibok to battle Boko Haram.
“When a good president visits, it is to commission
people-oriented projects. That is not the case with
President Jonathan. He was here yesterday (Saturday)
to commission his men to kill Ekiti people. We advise
him to go back to Chibok if he wants to wage war. If
they are looking for a state to hijack, not Ekiti. If we are
backed against the wall, we will bite.
“We use this medium to tell the Police Commissioner
and the OC Mopol who have been instructed to shoot
Ekiti people and who have demonstrated that this
morning to leave Ekiti State within 24 hours. The
people’s army are greater than the police or the
Nigerian Army. The nonchalant attitude of the
commissioner is to say the least unfortunate. If we are
going for election in 14 days’ time and we are
witnessing this, it is unfortunate,” Awe said.
The Director-General of the Kayode Fayemi Campaign
Organisation, Hon. Bimbo Daramola, recalled how the
OC Mopol had harassed three members of the APC who
were arrested a couple of months ago in their cell.
Daramola said: “You would recall that I said that this
same OC Mopol, not only is he from Bayelsa, not only
is he well-acquainted with Mr. President, he went into
the cell to tell these people that he has a matching
order to hunt us down. The experience of our people
this morning has shown that there is a script. They
even said they anticipated that we would come out this
morning. We call on Mr. President to be indeed
responsible. Leadership demands responsibility.
“We are used to adversity. Nobody should test our
wills. Neither Selenkere nor President Jonathan has a
stake in Ekiti.”
It would be recalled that Vice President Namadi Sambo
at a PDP gathering in Abuja had said his party was
going to the warfront in Ekiti and Osun States.
It was said that the Vice President waited behind in
Ado-Ekiti where he reportedly spent the night after the
PDP rally on Saturday.